Avid cinemagoers have helped China to overtake Japan to become the world’s
second-biggest film market, underlining the country’s rising importance to
Hollywood studios.

Ticket sales in China rose 36 per cent last year to $2.7 billion (£1.8
billion), making it the fastest-growing film market globally and helping to
take worldwide box-office revenues to a record $34.7 billion, according to
figures released by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Ticket sales are in decline in many countries, falling 1 per cent last year to
$10.7 billion in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but China is rapidly
becoming a nation